A lawsuit brought by Massachusetts auto dealers against Tesla Motors seeking to prevent the company from selling its electric vehicles in company-owned retail stores has been dismissed.

The suit, brought by the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association (MSADA) in Norfolk County Superior Court, alleged that Tesla was violating state franchise laws by opening a company-owned store in Natick, Mass., last September. Judge Kenneth Fishman dismissed the case based on the auto dealers’ lack of standing and failure to state a claim.

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week kicks off today. 3p’s Nick Aster is attending and will report on the World Future Energy Summit and the Fayed Future Energy Prize ceremony, among other events and sessions.

As this series has noted, international protocols have only slowly phased out refrigerant gases that are harmful to the ozone layer and climate systems. Meanwhile, slow-to-replace older equipment in the U.S. and developed countries, in addition to new appliances in the developing world — still rely on older pollutants with high global warming potential.

The UK Green Deal allows people that live homes that are hard to heat to make improvements that are then paid for in installments over the next twenty years. These installments are added to their energy bill, which will have been reduced by the home improvements. In other words, you should never pay more than you save. Will it catch on?

Publicly traded companies like Google and Starbucks are fiduciarily beholden to their shareholders to maximize profits and minimize losses. Companies that fail to take advantage of tax loopholes made available by governmental tax codes are remiss in their financial duties and are subject to commensurate legal repercussions. If governments hope to raise additional revenue from corporations operating within their borders, they will have to alter their tax codes accordingly.

Cohousing is gaining popularity, with many communities in development around the U.S. In contrast to current neighborhoods that are “car-centered,” cohousing developments like Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage in Maine offer a common house with a shared dining room, commercial kitchen, laundry room, guest bedrooms, and playroom.

Here’s a mantra you probably heard a lot in 2012: Millennials don’t shop that much these days. They share instead. But is it true? The short answer is, apparently, no. The longer answer is that it’s complicated.